Fuel supply system



y 1953 P. H. STOKES ETAL 2,637,273

FUEL SUPPLY SYSTEM Filed Dec. 29, 1950 4- 16 15 20% 21 Viva if! I l A Y 4 7; j 114 1% .4 t\-I 29 113 1'9 .9 10 1% Patented May 5, 1953 oFFl-cs Arthur Avenell, Wolverhampton,

and Peter Mitchell, Shifnal, Salop, England, assignors to H. M. Hobson Limited, London, England, a company of Great Britain Application December 29, 1950, Serial No. 203,291 In Great Britain January 30, 1950 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a fuel supply system for guided missiles. Such a missile is subjected to accelerations normal to the general direction of flight when it is guided by control surfaces, and these accelerations will disturb the distribution of fuel pressure in the fuel system, which will alfect the metering of the fuel to individual combustion chambers or burners. The object of the invention is to provide an inertia control for maintaining the correct distribution of fuel to the "individual burner nozzles of a missile when subjected to such accelerations.

The invention accordingly provides, in a guided missile, the combination of a pair of burner nozzles located on opposite sides of the fore and aft centre line of the missile, a fluid pressure operated servomotor for controlling the flow of fuel to the nozzles, a control valve for the servomotor which is biassed so as normally to occupy a controlling position in which the servomotor distributes the fuel equally between the two nozzles, and a weight coacting with the control valve and mounted so that it may move in a housing in the missile "in a direction normal to the fore and aft centre line of the missile, the weight being effective, when displaced in its housing in response to an acceleration force acting on the missile, to move the control valve from controlling position and thereby to actuate the servomotor so as to restore the equal distribution of fuel between the nozzles.

The weight thus acts as an inertia control for correcting the maldistribution of fuel between the nozzles which would otherwise occur in the event of the missile experiencing an acceleration in a direction such as will cause the weight to move in its housing.

One form of fuel supply system according to the invention for a guided missile will now be described in detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing.

The system includes a servocylinder I extending transversely to the fore and aft axis of the missile, and containing a servopiston 2. The piston has a central waisted portion 3 open to a conduit it by which metered fuel is supplied to a pair of burner nozzles 5, 6 located on opposite sides of the fore and aft centre line of the missile. The piston has two lands 1, 8 which respectively control outlet ports 9, It through which fuel may flow from the waisted portion 3 of the piston to outlet conduits ll, 12, leading one to each of the nozzles 5, 6.

Aligned with the piston 2 is a control valve l3. The end of the valve I3 remote from the servecylinder abuts against a spherical weight H which is movable in a housing i6 aligned with the servocylinder. A spring I l is mounted in compression between the piston 2 and an abutment id bearing against the right hand end of the control valve 18 and a spring is bears against the end of the weight 15 remote from the valve [3.

The valve it is of the three land type, and it controls communication between a port 29, communicating with a conduit 19 connected to the right hand end of the servocylinder I, and an inlet 20 for liquid under pressure and an exhaust outlet 2!. In the drawing, the arrow EX -repre-- sents the direction of flight of the missile.

Normally, the springs 'l'l, 1:8 maintain the valve IS in the controlling position shown, in which its central land closes the port 29. The piston 2 then occupies the position shown in which the effective areas of the outlet ports 9, H) are equal and the fuel is accordingly distributed equally between the nozzles 5 and 6,.

If now the missile experiences, due ,totheactuation of a control surface thereon, an acceleration in the direction of the arrow Y, say to the left, there would be a tendency for .more fuel to flow to the nozzle 6 than to the nozzle 5. Blowever, the housing 16 will, in response to such an acceleration, move to the left relatively to the weight I5 and the control valve l3 will accordingly be displaced to the right in relation to the port 29. Pressure liquid from the inlet 20 will accordingly be supplied to the conduit 19, thereby causing the piston 2 to move to the left in the cylinder l to increase the compression of the spring ll. This results in the land 1 increasing the effective area of the port 9 and the land 8 decreasing the effective area of the port It], thereby re-establishing the equal distribution of fuel between the nozzles 5 and 6. When the missile ceases to be subjected to acceleration to the left in the direction of the arrow Y, the parts resume their initial positions.

If the missile experiences an acceleration to the right in the direction of the arrow Y, the valve l3 will move to the left in relation to the port 29, so connecting the conduit I9 to the exhaust outlet 2|. The spring ll will then move the piston 2 to the right, thus increasing the effective area of the port In and decreasing the effective area of the port 9, so as to maintain equal distribution of fuel between the nozzles 5 and 6.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a guided missile, the combination of a pair of burner nozzles located on opposite sides of the fore and aft center line of the missile, a cylinder, means for supplying fluid under pressure to the cylinder, a piston in the cylinder which serves as a distributing valve for controlling the supply of fuel from a common inlet conduit to a pair of outlet conduits, said conduits communicating with said cylinder, each of said outlet conduits leading to one of the nozzles, a control valve and conduits associated therewith operable to vary the fluid pressure in the cylinder and thereby to control the position of the piston in the cylinder, 2. housing, a weight coacting with the control valve and mounted so that it may move in said housing in a direction normal to the fore and aft center line of the missile, a spring between said weight and said piston, said spring urging the control valve towards the weight and being subject to a variable loading according to the position of the piston in the cylinder, and a spring urging the weight towards the control valve, said springs normally maintaining the control valve in a controlling position in which the 'pistondistributes the fuel substantially equally between the two nozzles and the weight serving,

when displaced in its housing in response to an .in claim 1, in which the piston has two lands cooperating each with one of a pair of outlet .ports in the cylinder leading to the outlet con duits and a central waisted portion communicating with the inlet conduit, the effective areas of the outlet ports being substantially equal in the normal position of the piston and the piston moving, in response to movement of the weight, to decrease the effective area of the outlet port leading to the nozzle at the side of the missile to which the weight moves and to increase the efiective area of the other outlet port.

3. In a guided missile, a combination as claimed in claim 2, in which the cylinder extends normally to the fore and aft centre line of the missile, the piston, the control valve and the Weight being in alignment with the spring subject to variable loading mounted in compression in the cylinder between the piston and the control valve, and the control valve, when moved from controlling position, serving to establish, according to its direction of movement, either a pressure or an exhaust connection to the end of the cylinder remote from the control valve.

4. In a guided missile, the combination of a pair of burner nozzles located on opposite sides of the fore and aft centre line of the missile, a cylinder, an inlet conduit for admitting fuel to the cylinder, outlet conduits connecting said cylinder to said nozzles, a piston in said cylinder, said cylinder and piston being relatively movable to control the flow of fuel through the outlet conduits to the nozzles, a control valve, a conduit controlled by the control valve for establishing a variable fluid pressure in said cylinder and thereby controlling the position of said piston in relation to said cylinder, means biasing said control valve to a normal controlling position in which the piston distributes the fuel equally between the two nozzles, a housing, and a weight coacting with the control valve and mounted so that it may move in said housing in a direction normal to the fore and aft centre line of the missile, the weight being effective, when displaced in said housing in response to an acceleration force acting on the missile, to move the control valve from controlling position and thereby to effect relative movement of said piston and cylinder to restore the equal distribution of fuel between the nozzles.

PHILIP HAROLD STOKES. ARCHIBALD ARTHUR AVENELL. PETER MITCHELL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,385,257 McLean July 19, 1921 2,396,321 Goddard Mar. 12, 1946 

